DURHAM captain Will Smith believes the club can cope with the absence of the county’s England players in their defence of the LV County Championship title.

The duo of paceman Liam Plunkett and all-rounder Paul Collingwood are away with the national side, and Smith hopes other players can take their chance to impress.

He said: “It gives opportunities to other guys in and around the squad while they are away.

“However, if we do get the England lads for a period of time it will be a bonus.”

Seamer Graham Onions was also in the England squad for the tour of Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates, but was released from the squad following a back injury.

Meanwhile, having retained the title last year with an unbeaten run in the County Championship, Durham are bidding to become the first county to win a hat-trick of titles since Yorkshire between 1966-68.

Smith is confident the squad will return from the winter break with the same enthusiasm and determination to secure the title they showed during the past two successful seasons.

He added: “The main thing is not to let our sights get too high.

“We have to start again right from ball one in the first game.

“We have done fantastically well in the past three years, but that is all swept under the carpet now.

“We need to treat this season as a separate entity.

“We will be doing that. Everyone is so motivated and personally driven anyway they will be wanting to improve themselves and our own game.

“If we do that, we will improve as a team as a result.

“Hopefully, we will string together another run of form like we did last year and things will go our way again.”

Collingwood finished unbeaten on 145 today as England declared on 599-6 on day two of the First Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Earlier, captain Alistair Cook hit his highest score for his country of 173.